Why God Used D. L. Moody, pt 2: he was a Student of the Bible and a Humble man
The third reason Torrey gives as to why God so mightily used D. L. Moody was that he was a “deep and practical student of the Bible.” Torrey writes,
“Every day of his life, I have reason for believing, he arose very early in the morning to study the Word of God, way down to the close of his life. Mr Moody used to rise about four o’clock in the morning to study the Bible. He would say to me: ‘If I am going to get in any study, I have got to get up before the other folks get up’; and he would shut himself up in a remote room in his house, alone with his God and his Bible.”
Wow…four o’clock in the morning! As I read those words I’m convicted, realizing the level of commitment
Moody had compared with my own. How much of my time is taken up by
trivial matters?
Torrey then continues,
Oh, you may talk about power; but, if you neglect the one Book that God has given you as the one instrument through which He imparts and exercises His power, you will not have it…
Oh, men and women, if you wish to get an audience and wish to do that audience some good after you get them, study, study, STUDY the one Book, and preach, preach, PREACH the one Book, and teach, teach, TEACH the one Book, the Bible, the only Book that is God’s Word, and the only Book that has power to gather and hold and bless the crowds for any great length of time.
The Fourth reason God used D. L. Moody so powerfully was his humility. Even though he spoke to some of the largest crowds in the biggest buildings of his day and though his name was known throughout the land and overseas he remained humble before God and people. Moody used to say,
“Faith gets the most; love works the most; but humility keeps the most”
Torrey aptly concludes,
Oh, how many a man has been full of promise and God has used him, and then the man thought that he was the whole thing and God was compelled to set him aside!
I can look back for forty years, or more, and think of many men who are now wrecks or derelicts who at one time the world though were going to be something great. But they have disappeared entirely from the public view. Why? Because of overestimation of self. Oh, the men and women who have been put aside because they began to think that they were somebody…and therefore God was compelled to set them aside.
The entire shore of the history of Christian workers is strewn with the wrecks of gallant vessels that were full of promise a few years ago, but these men became puffed up and were driven on the rocks by the wild winds of their own raging self-esteem.
This is as true today as it was 100 years ago – the unfortunate truth is that pride continues to make wreck of many a life and ministry. Let’s learn from these men of God and “humble ourselves before the Lord” (James 4:10) that He may use us for His glory!
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“Why God Used D. L. Moody” is available in these Kindle eBooks:
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